Fog of Eternity | Website design and discussion

There is not enough time in the day. I recently worked out my time commitments over a twenty-four hour period. They came to twenty-five hours. That’s not a recipe for anything other than stress. I cut my time commitments from “what I spend” to “what I need to spend”. Turns out that less time is more valuable than more.

When you only have fifteen minutes to do something, you focus. For the last couple of days I’ve used a stopwatch. If I don’t finish something in my allotted time, I don’t finish. No “just a minute or two more”. I’m strict with myself.

30 minutes to read

My blog reading/commenting I do first thing in the morning. I sit down at my PC, click the stopwatch, and go. I don’t get distracted. I don’t waste time submitting those articles to other sites. The only sharing I’m allowed to do is click the “share this” button on Google Reader.

I read and comment. When that half hour is up I find I’ve read and commented on everything I need.

30 minutes to spread the word

I chose just two social network sites to submit to. Stumbleupon and Sphinn. I spend 15 minutes on each. I work exclusively on one site until my time is up, and then switch.

I use this time to submit the interesting blog articles I read earlier. I stumble a good number of sites and rate them. I selectively sphinn good articles. I also make it a point to comment on sphinns and review stumbles. I try to review at least one Stumbler’s homepage. I add value beyond just clicking a thumbs up.

In two days of this kind of activity my Stumbleupon friends have increased by about a quarter. Every time I visit my Stumbleupon homepage there’s a little red number telling me new people have visited. I’ve noticed an increased number of people viewing my Sphinn profile.

45 minutes to say my piece

I give myself a little longer to write my blog post. I do nothing else in this time. I am either writing or referring to a source. I remove distractions.

I’m lucky enough to be a really fast typer. It means I get the initial writing done quickly. That gives me time to read back through, and edit more effectively. The quality of my posts improves.

Less is definitely more

I lack discipline in time management. Social networking to no great purpose is a great time waster. It wasn’t a good combination. I lost hours of time with no good value in return.

Now I’ve reduced my active social networking to under two hours. But it’s a worthwhile two hours, I’m really active. The benefits are already visible, and it demonstrates the importance of a focused approach to social networking. Don’t let yourself meander.

Filed under: Blogging, Comment, Social Networking by Robin Cannon

Subscribe to our RSS feed